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Nina Forever [2015] – Obsession Meets Grief

“Imagine being fucked by someone that intense” says Holly,
with eyes widening, at the start of British film-makers Ben and Chris Blaine’s horror/romance “Nina
Forever” (2015). Holly (Abigail Hardingham) says those words after learning
about the suicide attempt of supermarket co-worker Rob (Cian Barry), who had
lost his longtime lover Nina (Fiona O’ Shaughnessy) to an accident. Rob lives
in a purgatory, enshrouded by his grief, while Holly may want to fix this guy,
desiring some of that devotion he had shown for his dead girlfriend. Is
Holly’s pursuit really about desiring true love or fixing up grief? Because she
is called as ‘a weird little girl’ and also when her soon-to-be-ex boyfriend
tells ‘you are so nice’, Holly lashes at him “fuck off, you know nothing about
me”. Apart from her uncanny attitude, we really don’t know much about Holly. But,
she is definitely a fascinating character. Not because she wants to help a
grieving man from his emotionless existence; but because she puts her desire
first (even when it gradually becomes obsession) and comes off as the only one
in the film to make active choices.

So, where does the horror element come from? And how do
Holly’s active choices accentuates her inner darkness? The horror elements
arrives when Holly in an intense lovemaking session with Rob (talking about
Holly’s desire or obsession, this intense f**king happens at her first date)
witnesses dead Nina crawling up into the bed. Alas, unlike ghost movies, Nina takes up
a corporeal form. She is very much looks like the dead, as she is drenched in
blood and with a twisted body, although Nina isn't just interested in haunting.
She plainly asks Holly on what’s she doing with her boyfriend in their bed. Interestingly,
both the living doesn’t look rattled at seeing dead Nina. Rob accepts Nina
being there and even introduces her to Holly and vice-versa. Nevertheless, after the initial repugnance, Holly
makes an active choice of going through the relationship with Rob and to let
this implacable, blood-stained corpse rest near them on bed, during the
intimate sessions (although Nina never wants to reason with Holly).

Despite being labeled as ‘horror-comedy romance’, “Nina
Forever” doesn’t veer off into “Burying the Ex” territory, desperately trying
to extract few chuckles. The film rather seeks for incisive emotional catharsis
and asks resonating questions about coping with death and on self-inflicted
fixations. The film starts off as a straightforward, minor study of grief with sprinkles of black comedy, but it transforms to become a study of darkness and
obsession within Holly. It is more or less a character piece, wearing the
masque of gore-and-nudity horror. On one hand, it works as the study of painful
experiences and past griefs, while on the other hand it is an examination of
inexperience and darkness. And, in spite of literally being a standout character,
Nina doesn’t overshadow Holly, who unlike Rob and Nina gets to explore
different emotional territories. And, Abigail Hardingham who plays Holly does
it with absolute conviction.

Blaine brothers paint their frames with white and grey to
stress on the characters’ disappointment and world-weariness. They go for
realist drama within what that 'Clive Barker' twisted territory. The sequences
between Rob and Nina’s parents seem to be in 'Mike Leigh' dominion. The premise
is quite monstrous and queasy, but the directors’ infusion of the magical
realist elements perfectly convey the real human emotions of compulsion and
grief. So, within all these weird happenings, the directors have tried to imbue
narrative elements that bear certain resemblance to the purposes of everyday
life. Of course, it is so weird to see blood-soaked spirit and a girl trying to appease (in the most unthinkable manner) the specter’s presence, but once we are able to settle into the
characters’ realm, it becomes a disquieting, grounded fable about dead love and
obsession.

The script is an
amalgamation of different character perspectives and so those feelings &
desires are pushed out in various directions, simultaneously. The script is not
only about delusions of Holly proving her darkness; it also examines Rob’s own
delusions in that gut-wrenching dinner scene with Nina’s parents. Of course, this
is a choice that at times becomes tonally distracting. The narrative tries to
contemplate both the relationship baggage and dark obsessions, which despite
the uniqueness affects the pacing. Nevertheless, the stagings don’t turn out to
be pedantic to make us lose interest. One of the commendable aspects in the
direction is how on-screen sex is not portrayed as a source of titillation
(although the posters may give us a different standpoint). Fundamentally, the
narrative gets structured throughout the physical encounters. In one scene, Rob
uses letter presses and manages to leave surface mark on Holly before their kinky
sexual encounter. It is the sequence, where the superficial temporary tattoos represent
the couples’ love for each other. Once Rob, begins to heal from grief, Holly
begins to lose interest on loving like those erasable marks, but her obsession
for Nina goes skin-deep.

“Nina Forever” (99 minutes) is weird little thoughtful movie,
which despite its pacing problems, remains intriguing till the end. It works as
an examination of young woman coming to terms with her own darkness &
obsession and also as a restrained meditation on grief & death.